Reports reaching DailyPost has it that the 3 NYSC members recently kidnapped in Rivers state have been freed by their abductors. The corps members, Ogwuche Martins, Lijoka Richard and Nwachukwu Chinonye Esther who were abducted at their lodge in Ogonokom, Abua-Odual Local government council were released by their captors exactly two weeks after they were kidnapped.

Narrating their ordeal to DailyPost, one of the victims who pleaded anonymity said he was surprised at the attack as it was never expected that such a thing could happen to them. He narrated that everything happened in a jiffy and the next minute, they found themselves in an unknown island.

According to him,”it happened after I went outside to ease myself. Few minutes later, I heard a big bang on my door and some men came in with rifles. They then led me to the waterside where the boat was. They also took two other people and flew us to an unknown island.

“We didn’t know weather we were still in Rivers state or not. Since that time till our release we have been living in the bush. We never had our bathe or washed our mouth. Though they didn’t torture us, they only threatened us, while asking us to make calls to those who could give them money to pay for our ransom.”

Also speaking, another victim in the fold, who explained that they were robbed of their valuables which include, laptop, phones and some cash confirmed that they were not molested in any way.

“They pushed my door open, I knelt down immediately and started begging them. They took my phones and my computers. They then took me with them to the waterside. They took us to an unknown destination. It took us over 2 hours to get to the island. So we didn’t know if we were still in Rivers state or not.

“On the island, there were 9 guys who were running a shift, while monitoring and guarding us. They threatened us in many ways, but they never touched us or did anything to us. They consistently called our LI for negotiations which they started with 20 million naira.”

The corps members could not confirm if any ransom was finally paid for their release. They said resource persons and security operatives facilitated their release.

You will recall that some NYSC members were kidnapped in the early hours of saturday, June 22nd, 2013 at Abuja-Odual LGA in Rivers state. The Rivers state police command intensified search for the corps members according to the PPRO, Angela Agabe.

The kidnappers subsequently demanded for the sum of 20 million for the release of the corps members. It’s still uncertain if ransom was paid for their eventual release.